Italy wins toss and fields in debut T20 World Cup game against Scotland

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KOLKATA, India (AP) — Italy's 45-year wait finally ended Monday when it won the toss against Scotland and elected to field in its opening game at the Twenty20 World Cup, a debut in a major International Cricket Council tournament.

Italy, where the sport’s national federation was formed in 1980, placed second behind Netherlands in the European qualifiers. It is the 25th nation to have played the tournament.

Scotland originally missed out after losing to Italy in the qualifiers, but was drafted in late as a replacement for Bangladesh in Group C. The ICC rejected the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s request to shift its games from India to Sri Lanka due to security concerns.

Captain Wayne Madsen, a South African who qualified to play for Italy because of his Italian grandmother, said his team wanted “to make a mark at this World Cup.”

The Italian playing XI has two sets of Australian brothers with Italian family connection: opening batters Anthony and Justin Mosca; and Harry and Benjamin Manenti.

Scotland lost its tournament opener to West Indies on Day 1 at the Eden Gardens, but captain Richie Berrington hoped to put up a big total and was happy to bat first.

In the later games Monday, Zimbabwe will take on Oman in Group B at Colombo, and 2024 runnerup South Africa meets Canada at Ahmedabad.

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Lineups:

Scotland: George Munsey, Michael Jones, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington (captain), Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross, Mark Watt, Michael Leask, Oliver Davidson, Brad Wheal, Brad Currie.

Italy: Anthony Mosca, Justin Mosca, J J Smuts, Wayne Madsen (captain), Harry Manenti, Benjamin Manenti, Grant Stewart, Gian-Piero Meade, Marcus Campopiano, Crishan Kalugamage, Ali Hasan.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket